Greater
Bladderwort is one of many species of bladderworts.
These plants are carnivorous,
which means they eat small animals.
The only part of
Greater Bladderwort that is above water is the
flower
and its stalk.
The stalk can be up to two feet tall, sticking
straight up from the water. It has no leaves. The
flower is yellow and about 3/4 inch wide. It blooms
from May to September.
The rest of the
plant is underwater. Stems spread out widely, so
that the entire plant can measure seven feet
across. Stems have thread-like leaves up to three
inches long.
Copyright, Joanne
Kline
Br. Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's
College
Access Washington,
Department of Ecology
Copyright, Waltraud
Shulze, The Carnivorous Plant Website
Attached to the leaves,
this plant has tiny bladders, little rubbery pouches about
1/8 inch wide.
The bladders have an
opening surrounded by tiny hairs. The bladders also release
a slimy mucus which smells sweet and lures small creatures,
such as mosquito larvae
and water fleas. When an animal gets close enough to touch
the hairs, the bladder sucks it inside.
Once the prey
is trapped inside the bladder, special chemicals from the
plant break it down so that nutrients
can be absorbed (sucked up like a sponge).
Besides water fleas and
mosquito larvae, other bladderwort prey includes:
paramecium, amoeba, rotifer, nematode, scud, copepod, fairy
shrimp, and other tiny insect larvae. Just about any
creature that fits inside a bladder will be eaten. Newborn
tadpoles
and fish, as well as larger insect larvae, have been found
stuck, half-in and half-out of bladders. The part inside the
bladder was eaten and the part outside was not.
Greater Bladderwort does
not root to the ground. Instead, it is free-floating.
Usually most of the plant hangs in the water near the
bottom, but it floats to the top when it is ready to
flower.
Greater Bladderwort, like
most bladderworts, is found in ponds and marshes.
The flowers of this plant are
pollinated
by insects, such as bees and flies. The insects drink the
nectar,
but accidentally take pollen from one flower to another. Once a
bladderwort flower receives pollen from another bladderwort flower,
it can produce fruit
and seeds.
Besides growing from seeds, new bladderwort plants can grow from
pieces that break off from an older plant.
Bladderworts are very often found
growing underneath mats of duckweed. Some other plants that grow
alongside of Greater Bladderwort include: cattails, rushes,
pondweeds, water lilies, reeds, Pickerelweed, and Lizard's
Tail.
Euglena, a microscopic organism
from the Protist Kingdom is immune to the digestive chemicals inside
the bladders. Euglena actually lives inside the bladders and uses
them for shelter.
Rotifers, tiny microscopic
animals, attach their bodies to bladderworts.
Some animals that eat bladderwort
plants include: ducks, Muskrat, turtles, and White-tailed
Deer.
Many small creatures use the large
vine-like bladderwort plants as shelter or places to lay eggs,
including fish, frogs, salamanders, and aquatic insects.
Greater Bladderwort may have over
500 hundred bladders on it and eats thousands of tiny organisms every
day.
Greater Bladderwort,
and other bladderworts, may not help people directly, but scientists
know they are a sign of a healthy pond. They help control populations
of microscopic organisms, some of which may carry disease, and small
insects, such as mosquitoes. They also provide wildlife with shelter
and food.
